ABSTRACT
Ozawa appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the term “white persons” did not define a race, but dealt instead with the personal qualities that made a person fit for citizenship. The justices disagreed, concluding that “white” referred to someone of the Caucasian race. Recognizing the briefs filed on Ozawa’s behalf, the Court wrote that it was not passing judgment on the “culture and enlightenment of the Japanese people,” which it did not dispute. Moreover, it noted carefully that its decision did not imply “any suggestion of individual unworthiness or racial inferiority.” Nevertheless, the Supreme Court concluded, Ozawa was “clearly of a race which is not Caucasian” and therefore not entitled to US citizenship.1
